The Ospreys Under 18s face the Newport Gwent Dragons in their first home game of the season on Wednesday.
Having won their first two games in this year’s WRU Regional Age Grade Championship, the Ospreys go into tomorrow’s game at the Bridgend Ford Brewery Field feeling confident.
Their opponents, the Newport Gwent Dragons have so far failed to register a win, having been beaten by the Blues and then securing a draw against the Scarlets last week. However the Ospreys are well aware of the different challenges the well coached Dragons side will pose.
“We are feeling confident, we’ve had two wins so far where we have played well and had some really good performances. We’ve heard good reports about the Dragons though so we can’t go into it too confident and I think it’s really important that we concentrate on the game and stay focused. The Dragons are well known for their big strong forwards and they try to use them as much as they can with the driving line outs and pick and go’s off the rucks so I think it will be a very forward oriented game. It’s particularly important then that our own forwards are focused and can do the right stuff on the night and that the backs can put the passes in that we need ” commented Jon Fox, Ospreys number eight.
Shaun Connor, Ospreys U18 Head Coach added:
“The match will be a big challenge for us. The Dragons have a big physical pack with a lot of Under 18 internationals in it so they will be very strong. They also have a young back line who look to play so we’ll have to be on our guard up front and also behind. We’ve prepared well this week though. We have reviewed where we feel we could have been more clinical against the Blues and hopefully this will show in the game on Wednesday”
The team remains largely unchanged from the one that beat the Blues last week with just Niall Popham and Morgan Jones coming into the match day 15 and getting their first starts after being on the bench in the previous two games. Jacob Williams and James Roberts also join the squad after being names among the replacements for the first time.
Come down and support your future Ospreys stars at the Bridgend Ford Brewery Field, this Wednesday (11th September). Kick off is 7.15pm.
Eyasses Team:
15.Stuart Nicholas
14. Morgan Jones
13. Joe Thomas
12. Owen Watkin
11. Rees Geely
10. Luke Price
9. Niall Popham
1. Harrison Walsh
2. Luke Davies
3. Sam Martin
4. Adam Beard
5. Matt Dodd
6. Josh Cole
7. Ben Davies
8. Jon Fox
Replacements:
16. Shaun Howard
17. Lewis Francis
18. Lloyd Rees
19. Rowan Davies
20. Max Easy
21. Jacob Williams
22. James Davies
23. James Roberts